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Analysis Of The Growing Threat Of Biological Weapons By Dr. Steven M. Block

883 Words4 Pages

Dr. Steven M. Block believes that with an every changing society the threat of biological warfare is greater now than ever before and that has begun to threaten our peace. During this article, he takes us through the history, recent trends, and how we might contain and control the ever-rising numbers of biological weapons. In his article, “The Growing Threat of Biological Weapons” found in The American Scientist, Dr. Block states “The terrorist threat is very real, and it’s about to get worse. Scientists should concern themselves before it’s too late” (Block, 2001, para. 1). The threat of biological warfare has caused a world-wide panic as of late and is something that needs to be addressed. Biological warfare has been around for thousands of years. One of the oldest cases of biological warfare is when the ancient Romans threw biological agents into the water of their enemies (Block, 2001, para 2). This is not the only instance of biological warfare in our past. One of the biggest agents in biological warfare is the use of anthrax or Bacillus anthracis. The reason why this bacterium is greatly used …show more content…

This sent the United States and the Soviet states into overdrive shortly after World War II. All countries were having problems finding a way to deliver the toxins effectively. In 1969, President Nixon put a stop to all biological weapons and ordered all biological weapons be destroyed. This happened between 1971 and 1972 (Block, 2001, para. 11). These actions resulted in the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention(BWC) (Block, 2001, para. 12). Although many actions were taken, this convention lacked the force and execution to follow up on countries they believed were guilty of producing biological agents. The BWC was violated by the Soviets, as well as the Iraqis under President Saddam Hussein (Block, 2001, para.

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